In a Station of the Metro

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1913

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Sound and Meter

The first line opens with the article “The” (Line 1), and its sound balances the word “these.” The line relies on the prepositions “of” and “in” to create a sense of direction. It also relies on the demonstrative pronoun “these” (Line 1) to create a sense of distinction. The article “the” (Line 1) appears twice in the line. The line utilizes only three nouns—“apparition,” “faces,” and “crowd” (Line 1). The second line incorporates the nouns “Petals” (Line 2) and “bough” (Line 2). It relies on the adjectives “wet” (Line 2) and “black” (Line 2) to grow even more imagistic. The prepositions “on” (Line 2) and “a” (Line 2) create a pause in the line, allowing readers to focus on the line’s more imagistic aspects. The verse is not metrically regular and is free verse. Each line does rely on a syllabic structure. The first line begins with iambs (unstressed-stressed) and is followed by irregular, unstressed beats. The syllables’ sharpness is another technique that makes the second line stand in contrast to the first, since the natural content is bold against the urbanity of the metro station. The lack of metrical consistency throughout the poem reinforces the poem’s striking visuals.

Assonance

The poem also relies on assonance, which forms echoes. “Apparition” (Line 1) echoes with “station” from the title. “Crowd” (Line 1) echoes with “bough” (Line 2). The two words form a near-rhyme and move towards each other. “Apparition” (Line 1) and “black” (Line 2) share assonance because of the short /a/ sound. “Petals” (Line 2) and “wet” (Line 2) share the short /e/ sound, and “crowd” (Line 1) and “bough” (Line 2) share the long /ow/ sound. Assonance works to create conflict in the poem. Though the “faces” (Line 1) and the “Petals” (Line 2) are similar, they are also different. The “crowd” in the metro station also conflicts with the peaceful imagery of the “petals on a wet, black bough” (Line 2). The assonance works to create near-rhyme, and works against the conflict by inviting a connection between the images.

Form

The Japanese haiku form heavily influenced Pound. Haiku utilizes natural imagery to connect the momentary and the timeless, as well as the small with the transcendent. The poem appears as a couplet, but it is not since the title acts as one of the poem’s lines. When originally published, the poem appeared with large spaces between some words. The spaces might have represented the unnecessary words Pound eliminated as Pound whittled the poem to its most recognized form. The haiku form is not perfectly resembled in the poem. The poem’s brevity pairs the images of the metro station with the petals on the bough.

Imagism

Birthed in America and England in the early-20th century, Imagism emerged as a reactionary movement against Romanticism. Imagism emphasizes simplicity, clarity of expression, and precision through using exact images. Ezra Pound receives credit as the father of Imagism, but the movement actually developed with poet and philosopher T. E. Hulme, who spoke of poetry based on an accurate representation of an object rather than excess verbiage. Pound adapted Hulme’s ideas for Imagism.

Imagism aims to replace the abstract with the concrete. Typically, the poems are short and free verse. However, Pound utilized the image-fixated form of haiku. The movement also moved away from meter and moral reflection. Imagism relies on the direct treatment of the object, whether objective or subjective. In the poem’s second line, the speaker observes objectively. The “apparition” is ghost-like, and the “faces in the crowd” (Line 1) are ambiguous. The speaker does not apply their interpretation of the image, and readers are left to make their own. “Petals” (Line 2) line “a wet, black bough” (Line 2). The speaker does not state the petal’s colors, allowing readers to form their own image of the petals while supplying the reader with a distinct image of the bough.

Imagism also advocates that a poem should use no word that does not contribute to the poem’s presentation. Pound’s poem relies on articles like “the” (Lines 1-2) and prepositions like “of” (Line 1) and “in” (Lines 1-2) to show direction. The articles and prepositions are only two and three letters long and unnoticeable, allowing readers to focus on the poems longer, specific nouns like “apparition” (Line 1), “face” (Line 1), “crowd” (Line 1), “Petals” (Line 2), and “bough” (Line 2). The only two adjectives to appear in the poem are “wet” (Line 2) and “black” (Line 2). These two adjectives appear at the poem’s end, reinforcing the imagery and leaving readers with a distinct image.